It's a... boy!!!

It didn't happen as we thought it might, but in the end we got our reward...
January 12th, 2012, at 9:18 pm we gave birth to a baby boy.
A boy we named Arthur Cecil Bass.
He was 20 1/4" inches long and weighed 7 lbs and 10 oz.
Those are the details people like to hear about newborn babies.
People like to hear "Mom and baby are doing well" but sometimes it's a bit more complicated than that.
In our case it was a bit more complicated.
Here's the full tale
of the birth of our little King Arthur...

Thursday the 12th I went into work, expecting a normal day.
But as I sat down for lunch and was three bites of carrots in, I got a message from my Doctor that my lab results from the previous Tuesday indicated pre-eclampsia and we had to deliver TODAY.
So I drove myself to the hospital where Ryan met me.
I wasn't allowed any solid food so I had hot broth for lunch as we waited for things to get going.

Ryan waits

Polly was the first grandparent to arrive, to wait with us after my bag of waters was ruptured.

I was already dilated to 4 cm when I arrived, having active contractions that I couldn't feel, but as things weren't moving forward they had to begin a Pitocin drip. Due to the pre-eclampsia, I also had to have a continuous IV of magnesium to prevent seizures, which is known for making women feel like they "have been hit by a truck".
Here I am trying to look excited about it (that was my great nurse Amy)

The Pitocin quickly ramped things up.
Ryan was an amazing support as the contractions increased in intensity and frequency.
He lit battery-operated candles around the room and started our calming iPod playlist.
It sounds odd but I really "enjoyed" the experience.

But then they began putting an oxygen mask on my face and I was aware of more and more people coming into the room.
They had to monitor baby internally.
Suddenly the music stopped, and the lights were turned on.
Baby's heart rate was dropping to frightening levels and the urgency to deliver increased.

Eventually we were given the choice of forceps or vacuum suction.
We chose the latter. All I can say about that is "ouch".
But it was the threat of C-section if we didn't get the baby out on the next contraction that really got ME going.
I growled like a bear, gave it every effort I had, and pushed the baby out!
"It's a boy!" the staff exclaimed as I pulled him on to my belly.
I was so happy to kiss his messy blue face and touch every part of his precious little body.
But then they whisked him away for monitoring...

Luckily, our little baby, who now had an identity: Arthur, was well.
He got an 8/10 apgar score.
I had experienced 3rd degree tearing and lost some blood in the delivery.
BUT, despite the emergency alterations to our birth plan, I was able to deliver vaginally, without pain medication, was able to hold my baby immediately after birth, and Ryan got to cut the cord! I like to remind myself of these facts so they aren't overshadowed by the events that followed later...

The new parents

All of our parents became grandparents for the first time, and thankfully they got to meet their little grandson in the early hours of his life

My mom, Arthur's Nanna

Gran and Grandad, Ryan's parents Kirk & Polly

My dad, Arthur's Opa

Don't they all look proud? Arthur is lucky to have such terrific grandparents!

I was in a lot of pain after delivery and couldn't sleep.
I thought I'd broken my tailbone.
My nurse Mary was concerned when she had to catheterize me and brought in the doctors to look. They discovered that I had swelling in a cavity near my tailbone which was rare and concerning.

They ordered an emergency CAT scan to determine what was happening.
They found a hematoma, holding about 1 liter of pooled blood.
(for perspective, the human body holds about 5 liters of blood)
So I had to have an emergency angiogram to go in and patch up the bleeding vessels before the hematoma got worse.
They simultaneously had to do a blood transfusion.

The medical staff said they hadn't seen anything like this before and I became a medical oddity. All the doctors and nurses trooped along with me to all my tests so they could learn more.

The fact that I was most hung up on was that I would not be able to breastfeed my baby for at least 24 hours due to the contrast dye they use in the tests.
I was so afraid that Arthur would never breastfeed.

Ryan was able to get him to take formula from a special bottle, as he was losing weight.

Because of the complexity of my situation, I had to sleep in the ICU that night.
I had to have regular blood draws to see where my blood levels were. I slept poorly, there were people vomiting and screaming in the rooms next to me, and by the 6 am blood draw, I couldn't hold it together any more. My nurse found me crying and requested that maternity immediately send me my baby.
Ryan and Arthur came in to see me.
That little baby was the best medicine I could have had at that moment.
This picture surely captures that.

The next few days were about recovery.
My blood levels were still low and I had to have another two bags of blood transfused. A hearty thanks to the generous donors.
Here I am, a modern day vampire.Arthur got to meet more of his family.
Including Uncle Sean (and Kirk brought "It's a boy!" bubblegum cigars!)

Auntie Laura BugNanna and Bumpa just couldn't stay away :)

Uncle Scottrick got some QT timeAnd Auntie Bibby came up from Corvallis

Even GG Do got to visit!We also were fortunate to have lots of friends visit
Including Jon & Margot, who are preparing for parenthood themselves

Kourt & AdamAn entire crew of Occupational Therapists came by too! Wow!

Nay-Nay got some cuddle time from our little man

Even Dustin popped byWe just marvel over our little babe. We think we'll keep him.

On Monday, after 4 days in the hospital, we finally got the wonderful news that we would be discharged!
We had to collect the accumulation of things we had aquired, including gifts, materials from the hospital, and most importantly, our little bundle of joy!

We loaded him up in his car seat, got him the car and took him home for the first time- so exciting and scary at the same time!

Now we are cherishing our time with him.
We can't believe this is all real.
We're parents??!!
We have a son?!?!

Ryan has had to play his new role as papa as well as my nurse and he is incredible.
I just can't get over how fortunate I am.
Ryan is an incredible man.

I still have a lot of recovery ahead of me.
But it seems that things have stabilized.
Let's hope we've seen the worst of it and there is nothing but goodness ahead of us.

love